Business: Google Glass

The “technology of the future” has arrived, but in a form that may surprise you. It’s a rickety contraption, constructed entirely of cardboard, rubber bands, velcro, and magnets, but capable of very sophisticated simulation. Two Google employees introduced their project at a developer’s conference last Wednesday. The glasses give their wearers the ability to “watch videos on Youtube, float through space on Google Earth, and do some virtual traveling on Google Maps,” among other things (CNN). Here’s how it works: the glasses contain a slot for a smartphone and lenses to expand the field of vision. After launching the Cardboard Android app and settling into the viewfinder, a user is free to use a magnet slider on the side of the contraption (registered by the phone’s magnetometer) to control their virtual activity. It’s important to note that Facebook recently bought a similar device from Oculus for $2 billion. Meanwhile, Google has placed the design files for Cardboard online to give everyone a chance to make their own virtual reality simulator.